Feet of Clay

John Hinderaker of the Powerline blog points out that in a recent CNN interview, Donald Trump's thoughts on immigration have gone through a bit of a metamorphosis and that he is now sounding very much like the Democrat that he has been most of his life ... see: Trump Goes Soft on Immigration. Has the stalwart Trump suddenly gotten feet of clay? In particular please, dear reader, explain how Trump's following stream-of-conscious quotes from this interview sound any different from what Senator Chuck Schumer or Jeb Bush might spout:

Then we have a law, right? You’re supposed to come in legally. I would get people out, and I would have an expedited way of getting them back into the country so they can be legal ... We have to bring great people into this country, okay? And I want to bring — I love the idea of immigration, but it’s got to be legal immigration. Now, a lot of these people are helping us, whether it’s the grapes, or whether it’s jobs, and sometimes it’s jobs, in all fairness, I love our country, but sometimes it’s jobs that a citizen of the United States doesn’t want to do. I mean, there are jobs that a lot of people don’t want to do ... We’re going to something. I’ve been giving it so much thought, you know you have a — on a humanitarian basis, you have a lot of deep thought going into this, believe me. I actually have a big heart. … I mean, a lot of people don’t understand that, but the DREAMers, it’s a tough situation, we’re going to do something, and one of the things we’re going to do is expedite — when somebody’s terrific, we want them back here, but they have to be legally –.

Is Trump getting squishy and back-peddling on his previous diatribe against illegal Mexican criminal immigrants? Perhaps as with most controversies, The Donald likes to stake claims on both sides of the issue. And he says he is not a politician ...

Paper Moon

Even I was beginning to feel good about the recent government new-jobs report (up over 300,000 jobs) until I read the following CNBC article that puts its numbers in a more sobering perspective: CNBC Analysis. Apparently actual employment growth was only by 4,000 while full-time jobs declined by 150,000 and part-time jobs increased by 77,000. Even when things are looking up for Americans, it seems only a statistical illusion. 

One can surmise that we are now living in an Obamacare economy where job security and middle-class expansion is a thing of the past. First Senator Chuck Schumer and now the Obamacare co-sponsor, Senator Tom Harkin, is saying that the Obamacare law was a gigantic mistake … as it is far too complicated … see: USA Today Article/. (He still wants a single-payer health-care system however.)

So, once again, we see that we are living in a nation of make-believe numbers to gloss over legislative and administrative incompetence. What’s that old song, “It’s only a paper moon hanging over a cardboard sea …”?